Tag Archives: Landsat Data Continuity Mission

As is our want, Laura and I will be heading to Ravencon in Richmond, VA, this evening for SCIENCE, podcasting, and self-amusement. We will both be on the following session tomorrow:

Saturday, 10:00 – Parsec Awards: Awarding Excellence in Speculative Fiction Podcasting – Learn about the Parsec Awards from members of the Steering Committee and the help they need from you to find the most deserving podcasts.

My other official stuff includes:

Saturday, 12:00pm – Macroblogging in the Microblogging Era – Be it for promoting one’s novel or other creative work, or just for fun, blogging seems a necessity in the online world. But when more people are communicating via Tweets and Facebook status updates, are the days of the long blog post falling behind us?

Saturday, 8:00pm – Publish and Perish: Avian Flu – The avian H5N1 influenza virus has nearly 60% death rate in humans, but cannot easily be transmitted from person to person. Recent research has tried to change the virus to see if it could become more transmissible, but attempts to publish that research have created controversy. Should such mad science be done, and should the results be freely published?

Laura’s other official stuff consists of:

Saturday, 11:00am – International Space University: 25 years of fostering cooperation in space – The International Space University is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Learn from a graduate about this interdisciplinary, international, and intercultural space educational program.

Sunday, 1:00pm – Landsat Data Continuity Mission: Building on 40 years of Earth Observations – Learn about the history of the Landsat observations, the science they do and how the mission will continue with LDCM.

This weekend, Laura and I will be swinging by that tiny little con that could, Farpoint. Sunday at 1:00pm, I’ll be giving the State of the Flu address for 2012, where I’ll look at what’s going on with this year’s influenza season (hint – it’s starting now). I’ll also be addressing other recent bits of news, such as the ethical debate behind the attempted publication of the genome for an influenza virus that could be very lethal to humans, and a recent contention in the media that based on scientific evidence, the influenza vaccines don’t work.